We’re looking forward to introducing you to Dr. Sehrish Ali. Check out our conversation below.
Sehrish, we’re thrilled to have you with us today. Before we jump into your intro and the heart of the interview, let’s start with a bit of an ice breaker: What is a normal day like for you right now?
Most days start with coffee that’s non-negotiable and a few quiet minutes before diving into everything else. I like to ease in with my Kindle or just sit and plan the day. From there, it’s usually a mix of sessions with clients, supervising therapists, and checking in with families. No two days ever look the same, and I kind of love that.
Somewhere in between, I try to get outside, listen to a podcast, or grab something good to eat (therapy is always better when you’re not hangry). Evenings are usually family time or a crime doc on in the background while I unwind.
It’s a full life, but it feels aligned centered around connection, curiosity, and growth, which is exactly what I hope to help my clients find too.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Sehrish a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and clinical supervisor based in Houston, Texas. I’ve spent the past decade helping individuals, families, and fellow clinicians make sense of the messier parts of being human the parts we often keep hidden behind “I’m fine.”
I founded Guided Growth Therapy to create a space where healing feels real and possible, not pressured or performative. A lot of my work focuses on eating disorders, identity, and intergenerational trauma helping clients understand how culture, family, and lived experiences shape the way they see themselves. I’ve worked across all levels of care, from residential treatment to outpatient therapy, walking alongside both clients and families through recovery.
I also work with high-achieving professionals the ones who look like they have it all together but quietly battle burnout, perfectionism, or high-functioning anxiety. Beyond therapy, I supervise and consult with other therapists and helping professionals, especially those supporting marginalized communities or trying to sustain their own sense of purpose in demanding work.
My approach is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and rooted in honest connection. At the end of the day, I believe healing starts when we finally feel seen not fixed, just understood.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Disconnection usually starts quietly. It’s not always big fights or betrayals sometimes it’s the slow drift that happens when people stop feeling seen, heard, or safe to show up as themselves. Shame, fear, and unspoken expectations can build walls where there used to be understanding. We start protecting ourselves instead of reaching for each other.
What restores those bonds is often much simpler, but not always easy honesty, curiosity, and consistent effort. Repair happens when both people are willing to step back into the conversation, even when it’s uncomfortable. It’s in the small gestures: listening without defense, apologizing without justification, and choosing empathy over ego.
In therapy and in life, I’ve seen that healing relationships isn’t about pretending the hurt never happened it’s about rebuilding trust in a way that feels stronger, clearer, and more real than before.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me how to sit with the parts of life that don’t have quick fixes or clean endings. Success often celebrates what’s polished the outcomes, the achievements but suffering pulls you into the raw, unfiltered spaces where growth actually happens.
It taught me empathy in a way success never could. When you’ve been through something hard, you learn how to see others more gently not as problems to solve, but as people trying to make sense of their own pain.
Suffering reminded me that strength doesn’t always look like resilience or productivity. Sometimes it looks like rest, asking for help, or simply making it through the day. Those are quiet victories that don’t make headlines, but they build a kind of wisdom success alone can’t touch.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
I believe that people are far more resilient than they realize that even in their most broken moments, there’s a part of them still reaching toward healing. I see it every day in therapy: the small ways someone starts to hope again, even when they don’t call it that yet.
I also believe that connection heals in ways science can’t fully measure. There’s something powerful about being truly seen not fixed, not advised, just understood. That kind of presence can shift something deep inside us.
I can’t prove it on paper, but I’ve watched it happen too many times to doubt it the quiet turning point where someone begins to believe they’re worthy of peace. That’s the moment everything changes.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. If immortality were real, what would you build?
I think I’d build spaces not just physical ones, but emotional ones where people could come home to themselves. Maybe it would look like a network of healing communities across generations, where therapy, culture, and storytelling intersect. A place where people could unlearn shame, reconnect with who they are, and feel seen in their wholeness.
If I had forever, I’d want to use it to make being human a little less lonely to build systems that value rest as much as productivity, connection as much as achievement. Something that outlives any one person, but helps everyone feel more alive while they’re here.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.guidedgrowththerapypllc.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsehrishali/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sehrish-ali-phd-lpc-s-ceds-79420546/
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